Ecclestone Believes in Stronger F1, Despite Struggling Teams

Although confirming that two of the newly-entrant teams have financial difficulties prior to the start of the 2010 Formula One season, the series' chief executive Bernie Ecclestone argued that the upcoming championship will be the best in years. And that's because even if some manufacturers decided to leave the series last season, the new teams coming into the sport, as well as strong drivers lined up for the title fight, will make the 2010 season a great one.

“Campos and the American team are having problems – financial, not technical. I hope they will be okay, but I think Formula 1 is looking much stronger than it has for a long time. It's a shame to lose some manufacturers, but let's be honest – we all knew their time in Formula 1 was limited,” said Ecclestone in an interview with Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten.

Both US F1 and Campos Grand Prix initially agreed to invest in a Formula One operation during the months when the FIA had confirmed a 40 million pounds sterling budget cap for all the teams in the sport. However, that rule was reversed some weeks later, leaving the new low-budget teams fight against the powerful already-established F1 outfits for the 2010 campaign.

The third team that made the FIA cut at the time, Manor Grand Prix, was purchased by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group a few months later, turning into Virgin Racing. Although they haven't announced any economic struggles ahead of the new season, Virgin did state that their budget for the 2010 campaign will be one of the lowest in the series (close to 30 million pounds sterling).

In the meantime, US F1 and Campos Grand Prix seem to have chosen the right way out of their financial troubles. While the former has signed Argentine driver Jose Maria Lopez for the 2010 lineup – therefore securing some millions in sponsorship money from Argentine investors and also the government of Argentina – the latter has reportedly sold a small share of the team to South African businessman Tony Teixeira in exchange of 3-to-4 million euros.